Synergy Repairs is an example of world’s best practise in the establish of a social enterprise initiative that has proven it is able to take young car crime offenders and provide them with life skills, on the job technical training, work experience and support.   Synergy has demonstrated it can survive without ongoing funding from governments or corporate sponsors while curtailing recidivism, and successfully placing graduates in employment, acceptance into TAFE courses or encouraging them to return to school.

The team from Mission Australia's Synergy Repairs receiviing the2017 President's award from the Award sponsor Nick Gianoudis (far right),  NKG Management Services.

The following pages about Synergy Repairs have been taken from the 'Synergy Automotive Repairs Program - Process Evaluation Report' Prepared for Mission Australia by Dr. Monica Thielking and Associate Professor Jeffrey Pfeifer. https://carsafe.com.au/assets/Synergy_Evaluation_Report_Final__3May2016.pdf
  
 
Synergy Repairs (social enterprise) for young recidivist offenders:

On any day there are around 1,000 young people held in juvenile detention nationally and a very high proportion of them are there as a result of motor vehicle offences. Detention is costly – keeping a young person in secure care costs more than $440,000 a year – and its impact on post-release re-offending is open to debate. Recidivist offenders are often returned to the community without the skills or support required to leave their former lifestyle behind.

In larger Australian cities it is not uncommon for a ‘proficient’ young thief to have stolen more than 300 cars by his or her late teens. High-rate vehicle theft has also been shown to be a strong indicator of a young person’s likely involvement in other forms of crime. Car crime also kills, with more than 40 theft-related fatalities across Australia in the past five years. Sixteen of those deaths were young people between the ages of 10 and 19.

For these reasons, the NMVTRC remains an advocate for the expert design and delivery of diversionary programs for young vehicle theft offenders based around technical training and the development of trade skills.

Young offenders have a chance to turn their lives around through the commercially based social enterprise Synergy Repairs. Synergy is a unique partnership between Mission Australia, the Suncorp Group and the NMVTRC to deliver technical training and work experience for offenders aged 16–20 with a view to them securing full-time employment in the repair sector.

All work is supervised by an experienced, trade-qualified workshop manager and two full-time spray painters and panel beaters and must meet the same quality standards of other Suncorp repairers.

Synergy Repairs has now been operating for 2½ years and Mission Australia and the Suncorp Group have implemented a refined operational model to smooth workflows, address workforce planning issues and assure its financial security.

An independent evaluation by an expert in youth mental health and well-being, Dr Monica Theilking (May 2016), confirmed its effectiveness in curtailing recidivism, imparting life skills and providing employment pathways.

Introduction:

In a world first, and after more than three years of negotiation and planning, Synergy Repairs became operational in June 2014 in partnership between Mission Australia, Suncorp Insurance and the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council.  The Synergy partnership between the three stakeholders (social service, industry and government) combines three overarching goals:

1.              Reducing car-related crimes;

2.              Social justice and support for young people involved in car-related crimes; and

3.              Customer satisfaction and sustainable business development related to the car repair industry.

Synergy is a bold and state-of-the art response to responding holistically and innovatively to a social and community problem that combines the needs and resources of a number of stakeholders who are either impacted by motor vehicle offending or who support and seek to change those who commit them.

Synergy has been developed as a social enterprise with the intention of achieving independent commercial viability and while Synergy is intended to operate as a juvenile justice diversionary initiative, the program does not currently receive justice funding. Synergy was established with initial funding of $750,000 from the NMVTRC, as well as significant contributions from Mission Australia. In 2012, Equino conducted an evaluation of the estimated costs and revenue of the program, to support the decision making process on the viability of establishing a Smash Repair Enterprising Program (SREP). This report concluded that there would be positive cash flow covering the operating costs of Synergy in Year One, with estimated revenue being $1,071,250 in Year One, compared to an operating budget of $925, 350. Furthermore, the estimated savings for Mission Australia Victoria Fleet Vehicles was expected to be $20,407. This positive cash flow was expected to continue in Year Two and Year Three.

Program Description:

The Synergy Program is based in North Melbourne and operates as a fully commercial panel shop, offering a full suite of smash repair services carried out by Synergy staff trainers, who are assisted by young people in the program. In addition to gaining the practical experience and employability skills needed to commence a panel beating or spray-painting apprenticeship, participants may also work toward a relevant qualification. Participants complete a Certificate II in Paint and Panel delivered by educators from Kangan Technical and Further Education (TAFE) one day per week on site. Young people also gain on-the-job training and work experience alongside qualified and experienced auto industry professionals and are supported by a team of training and employment specialists. Synergy, through its relationship with Suncorp, has access to 91 repairers in their network, most of which have made a commitment to take on apprentices after graduating from the program. It is the aim of Synergy that these graduates will be placed in apprenticeships within their area of residence.

The pre-apprenticeship training was initially intended to take six months to complete, after which participants would be assisted by Synergy employment workers to find a relevant apprenticeship opportunity. However, in light of the significant disadvantage faced by participants, the program now operates with a more tailored approach to suit individual participants’ skills and ability (i.e., a combination of required skills and readiness to join the main stream labour market). Program completion is now based on satisfactory attainment of required skills (e.g., completion of the pre-apprenticeship training program and placement in a suitable apprenticeship) rather than according to the length of time the participant has been in the program. At this stage there is no upper limit to how long an individual can take to complete the Synergy program, and young people are able to continue to receive program support and mentoring for 2 years post-graduation from the Synergy Program.

Program Components:

Referral: Young people are referred to the Synergy Program through Mission Australia, Victoria Police or Juvenile Corrections.

Synergy Program: Young people participate in the pre-apprenticeship training program where they complete modules of a Certificate 2 in Panel Beating with Kangan Batman TAFE.

Placement: On attainment of competencies and indicators of employment readiness, young people graduate from the Synergy Program and are then placed into a 4-year apprenticeship with an employer.

Placement support: Young people continue to receive program support and mentoring for 2 years post-graduation

Ongoing support: Young people are given the opportunity to return to Synergy for further support if the placement breaks down.

In addition to the formal education and training components, the Synergy Program also focuses on building participant life skills and personal development, setting it apart from other juvenile offending diversion programs. Employment and Training Officers provide participants with practical support for issues that range from calling young people to remind them to attend the workshop, providing housing assistance or court support, and talking with them about problematic drug and alcohol use. The Employment and Training Officer is also responsible for ensuring that participants are also able to meet their mandated justice obligations and attend appointments related to their mental health, drug and alcohol and/or housing support needs.

The program currently is able to take on eight participants at a time and generally runs at full capacity with good levels of participant attendance. Here is some background material and summary data.

Total number of participants to date:  57                                                   

Total number who have gained the full qualification*:  30                         

Total number placed in an apprenticeships: 17                                            

Total number gained employment (not apprenticeship): 8                     

Total number placed in to further training:  5

Now in training:  8

*a number of participants did not complete the program as they successfully gained employment or an apprenticeship during the program.

The ‘Synergy’ Social Enterprise – Challenges and Opportunities

Synergy operates with a strong focus on personal and professional mentoring for participants. The participants present with a wide range of issues and needs, including learning disabilities, low educational attainment, mental health issues, substance use issues, unstable housing or homelessness, financial problems and a criminal history. Whilst the intended social and personal client outcomes from participation in Synergy is an important and worthwhile aim to strive for, there still remains a challenge of operating the Synergy Program as a social enterprise, whilst sustaining a financially viable business.

The most successful employment-motivated social enterprises are those where the business is labour intensive, skill acquisition is quick, and there are skill shortages and clear pathways to employment (Social Traders, 2011). While the Synergy Program is well-positioned according to these indicators, the additional running costs associated with also being a workplace integration social enterprise for disadvantaged young people can create additional financial strains (Social Traders, 2011). This strain is offset at Synergy by having skilled and qualified staff who do the majority of the work to a high industry standard, with young people assisting on tasks by following a graduated competency approach to skill acquisition and application.

The challenge remains, however, that without recurrent external funding, Mission Australia has responsibility for the ongoing economic risk of Synergy, with the financial viability of the business dependent on the workshop operation (Spear & Bidet, 2005). There are several factors that may negatively affect both the running costs and the commercial operation of Synergy. With profitability in the auto industry based on productivity, variable workflows lead to potential unreliable income. The partnership with Suncorp has positively addressed this issue, and the continued flow of vehicles from Suncorp and its subsidiaries (along with any external referrals), resulting from positive customer feedback is an indication of the high quality of the work completed by Synergy staff and youth trainee participants. Furthermore, whilst the smash repair industry itself is showing very gradual decline in forecasted employment rates, the industry is going through an adjustment due to consolidation and partnerships with Insurance providers (Deloitte Access Economics, 2014).

Process Evaluation

The second anniversary saw the launch of the program’s Process Evaluation Report prepared by Dr Monica Thielking and Associate Professor Jeffrey Pfeifer of Swinburne University. The evaluation was overwhelmingly positive. Key findings included that the program is valued by participants as a way to get into employment and to get ‘back on track,’ that participants value the mentoring relationships with trainers and the opportunity to pursue their love of cars in an adult ‘work’ environment and that the program had a transformative effect as time management, confidence and communication skills improved amongst participants while less time was spent socialising with peers who continue to engage in criminal activity. Dr. Thielking’s key findings are included as appendix 1 to this nomination.

Conclusions:

Synergy Repairs is the world’s first commercial enterprise delivering on-the-job technical training, work experience and support to young car crime offenders.  It is provides a blueprint for how government, industry and not- for- profit organisations can work together to address a major problem and provide win-win outcomes for all involved. 

Its financial performance is commercial in confidence but it is trading on its own resources.  and does not rely on any government funding. Thus unlike many other crime prevention programs which require ongoing  funding from governments or corporate partners to survive, Synergy Repairs is sufficient.   The NMVTRC, Mission Australia and Suncorp have demonstrated that with the support of the committed partners, the right staff and a well prepared business plan it is possible to develop a crime prevention program that after some initial setup and seed funding, can be self- sustainable and produce positive outcomes for young offenders, the community and industry.

Appendix 1:    Process Evaluation - Key Findings
 

1.       The Synergy program is innovative and has the opportunity to offer long-term positive outcomes to young people.

2.       The program is valued by the participants as a way into employment and to get young people ‘back on track’.

3.       Young people value the mentoring relationships with trainers and the opportunity to participate in an adult ‘work’ environment where they are able to pursue their passion for cars in a productive manner.

4.       Those working in the program, as well as those participating, felt that Synergy provided a good work experience which allowed skills beyond panel beating to be gained, such as time management, an improvement in self-confidence and communication skills, and an increase in general social participation skills needed for everyday living.

5.       Those working in the program, as well as those participating, spoke about the ‘transformative’ effect that the Synergy program had on participants, particularly around shifting unhelpful youth attitudes about participation in crime and young people socialising less with peers who continue to engage in criminal activity.

6.       There is a high degree of self-reported mental health problems in this cohort of young people as well as housing issues, which need to be addressed in programming. Low education attainment levels also need to be taken into account when designing training modules for this group.